The base’s homemade explosives often failed to detonate, easily becoming duds, sometimes needing to be ignited by bullets. Zhou Rong and Si Nan, backs against the fortification, protected by the armored vehicle, hit the yellowish packages falling through the air, with explosives landing on zombie heads, raising countless colliding airflows and flames!
The zombie tide was swept clean, countless zombie limbs crashed to the ground, like a putrid, bloody rainstorm.
Sporadic cheers rose from the crowd, and as the area cleared by bombs and armored vehicles grew larger, thunderous excited shouts erupted.
As the gunfire stopped, Zhou Rong laughed: “No, still one hundred percent, this way…”
“Rong Ge!” Guo Weixiang threw something towards the retreating zombie horde, roaring: “Ultimate move! C4—!”
The C4 explosive package spun towards the last batch of zombies outside the base. As Zhou Rong and Si Nan simultaneously turned to raise their guns, Si Nan suddenly turned and kissed Zhou Rong’s cheek.
“…!”
This kiss was unexpected. Zhou Rong’s index finger loosened, and Si Nan unhesitatingly pulled the trigger.
Bang—
The shockwave killed all zombies on the slope, simultaneously throwing them backward, crashing heavily onto the grassland, with windblown dry grass and gravel covering them.
“Si Xiao Nan!” Zhou Rong shouted, his face slightly red: “You’re cheating!”
Si Nan rolled up, winking triumphantly.
The massive zombie horde was finally completely cleared, with only small groups stumbling among the corpses, being rammed by armored vehicles and instantly shot down by Yan Hao and Guo Weixiang.
At 4:30 AM, the zombie tide was cleaned up, and the life-or-death base crisis was finally resolved.
The sacrificed soldiers were respectfully carried away amid tears, with the gunners receiving a hero’s triumphant ceremony. Especially when the gate slowly opened and several special forces drove back into the defensive works, the surviving crowd almost pulled them off the vehicle tops.
Yan Hao: “Talk nicely, don’t use force…”
Guo Weixiang stretched his neck and roared: “Come and try me!!”
Zhou Rong laughed, declining an excited girl reaching for his hand, hooking Si Nan’s neck and striding through the camp towards the back, laughing: “This time, you’re being sneaky…”
Si Nan, entirely embraced by Zhou Rong due to the height difference, one hand in his pocket, decisively said: “No.”
“You trembled when you kissed me.”
“But I didn’t tremble.”
“You kissed me, how are you not excited?”
“Why should I be excited?”
Zhou Rong glanced sideways, Si Nan returned a calm look.
Zhou Rong then had an idea: “Then kiss me again. If you kiss me again, you win, and it won’t count as cheating.”
Si Nan’s eyelashes fluttered quickly, which Zhou Rong knew was his subtle sign of being shy — sure enough, moments later, Si Nan turned his head away, pretending to look elsewhere.
Zhou Rong laughed heartily, cupping his cheek and forcing him to turn back, pressing a lingering kiss on his lips.
“Your heart rate increased,” Zhou Rong pressed against his forehead, using his sniper glove-covered index and middle fingers to feel his carotid artery, gently teasing: “‘Why should I be excited?’ Hmm?”
At that moment, with people coming and going around them, only they were head-to-head, breaths intertwined, and Zhou Rong couldn’t help but kiss him again.
“…” Si Nan breathed out a word through tight lips: “Bowl…”
“I’ll wash, I’ll wash,” Zhou Rong immediately coaxed: “Washing dishes is so fun, I love washing dishes the most!”
Si Nan coolly said: “As if we could afford bowls.”
Zhou Rong: “…”
“Comrade Xiao Si!” Zhou Rong followed closely behind Si Nan in the crowd, grievously: “I’m still a major after being demoted! Although the country can’t pay wages temporarily, can you not look down on me?
Zheng was interrupted as a soldier called out for him, causing the doctor to glance nervously over his shoulder. “I have to go,” he said hurriedly, his voice low. “Please, just come if you can.”
Zhou Rong nodded, watching Dr. Zheng retreat into the crowd, his mind racing. There was something unsettling about the whole situation. The noise of the camp faded as he began to think, trying to piece together the fragmented information he had.
He turned back toward the medical point, where the sounds of urgent voices and faint cries were mixed with the hustle of the personnel. It was all overwhelming—too much for anyone to handle alone.
Zhou Rong took a deep breath and steeled himself. He needed to remain focused.
The wounded interspersed with the busy medical staff were a reminder of the urgency of their situation—a situation demanding clarity and order. He thought of Dr. Zheng’s words, feeling a creeping unease.
With determination, Zhou Rong steeled himself for the task ahead, preparing to rally his team and ensure they were ready for whatever was to come.
Zheng almost jumped in shock and quickly turned around.
A slender man with an elegant scholarly appearance and gold-rimmed glasses stood near the temporary medical point. He waved at them.
He called to Dr. Zheng, “There’s a machine gunner who might have a fracture. Could you take a look?”
Dr. Zheng’s face changed, and cold sweat dripped from his forehead.
Zhou Rong remained calm, heavily pinching his elbow, causing a sharp pain that made Dr. Zheng shudder:
“Oh, coming – coming!”
The man stood quietly among the groaning wounded. The dawn light passed through the railing, casting a blue-gray shadow in the corridor. Half his body was hidden in the shadows, his face pale and his gaze sharp.
He seemed to emit an invisible, chilling power that made Dr. Zheng afraid to look at Zhou Rong, quickly lowering his head and hurrying to the medical point.
Zhou Rong suddenly realized something.
— He was the driver who came to pick up Chen Yajing.
Zhou Rong pondered, turning around. Someone politely coughed nearby.
Chen Yajing had been pushed by a guard and was stopped a few steps away.
“He’s Ning Yu, my assistant and the base’s doctor,” Chen Yajing took the initiative to ease the awkwardness: “Captain Zhou, do you want to see him for treatment?”
Were you injured earlier? I’ll immediately—”
“Oh no,” Zhou Rong laughed, his expression slightly roguish, looking around.
Si Nan, who had somehow obtained a White Rabbit milk candy from an admiring young girl, was leisurely sitting on the railing, sucking on the candy and swinging his long legs. Zhou Rong pulled him down without explanation and pointed at his head, smiling at Chen Yajing:
“My wife just got kissed by me and is experiencing accelerated heartbeat and rapid breathing, might faint, so I asked Dr. Zheng to take a look…”
Chen Yajing: “…”
Si Nan blankly asked, “What’s a ‘zhuojing’?”
“…Zhuojing… my wife… anyway, it’s fine,” Chen Yajing almost bit her tongue, barely finding her voice: “If there’s anything, just ask Ning Yu. He’s the highest-level doctor here. I came to… to thank Captain Zhou. If not for you turning the situation around, we definitely wouldn’t have repelled the zombies so quickly, and the machine gunners would have suffered massive casualties. Thank you so much.”
Chen Yajing slightly bowed in her wheelchair.
“No need, no need,” Zhou Rong waved his hand, “Have you asked about how the zombies bypassed the patrol?”
Chen Yajing furrowed her delicate eyebrows…
On the third day, news came. The patrol team found an abandoned maritime police ship along the coast, which had been towed to the port and cleaned up.
They were just waiting to load supplies before setting out to sea.
The office was so quiet that a pin dropping would be audible. Wan Biao and his trusted men stood guard around Chen Yajing, who suddenly changed expression, seemingly in great pain, gripping the wheelchair armrests tightly.
“Yajing!” “Miss Chen!”
